Puget Sound Energy

Late fees, monopoly

PSE has been my power company for many years and is the only available power company in the area where I live. Occasionally I am a couple weeks late on my bill because I am poor. I work, but barely make a livable wage. However, I am not complaining about being poor and I have always paid my bill before the end of the month.

After moving to a new house, PSE charged me a ~400 dollar setup fee to change the power bill for the house into my name. The previous occupants had PSE, so there was no actual setup required. 400 dollars to change a string of text in a software. We elected to pay that fee over the course of 4 months, with a payment plan. At the 5th month, the first month free of this "robbery" I received a bill for 300 dollars due by the end of this month.

A PSE representative explained that this was a secondary setup deposit due to having too many late payments.

So I suppose being two weeks late is wrong, but I can't make ends meet any other way. There used to be a grace period for late payments and it appears that they have discontinued that amenity. I was never notified of this change in policy, until recieving a bill I cannot afford on my own.

I saw others with this problem. if you are one, look up the community action council. They have an energy assistance program. They helped me years ago, hopefully they can help again. I understand the assistance is first come, first serve beginning in the fall.